This Pecan Pie Cake is perfect for your holiday get-togethers! Brown sugar cake layers and buttercream filled with traditional pecan pie filling.
Thirty dollars. That’s how much I spent on pecans for this cake. I kid you not. Thirty dollars!! Is that crazy to anyone else? Ridiculous.
The pecans were on sale, too. Good grief. I didn’t use all of them (most, though), but I always get more than I need just in case. In hindsight, I probably could have gotten a giant bag of them in Costco for less.
I’m not complaining about it (only kinda), but more so this is a PSA for those people who don’t bake. Next time you ask your baker buddy to make a cake for you, be aware that the ingredients do not come cheap, never mind the time it takes to make the cakes too.
And if they are making it for you for free, that is a good friend. You should cherish them and shower them with adoration and gift cards to their favorite baking store.
Now, let’s talk about this delicious Pecan Pie Cake!
Pecan pie is my favorite Fall pie. It beats out apple pie (narrowly) and demolishes pumpkin pie (which I actually don’t like at all — it’s a texture thing).
We never had pecan pie growing up, or any kind of Fall pie or dessert to be honest. Thanksgiving was a tradition that we adopted after we moved here. It’s not a part of Polish culture (obviously), but my parents happily accepted it and other Canadian traditions like Halloween when were growing up.
For some reason though, we never got the pies! I feel totally deprived. I am sure you can sympathize.
I must have been in my 20’s before I had pecan pie for the first time. I’ll be honest that it never really appealed to me before I had it. The filling looked weird, and I imagined the texture to be very unpleasant. Holy crap did I ever miss out. It is amazing!!
What I pictured as a gooey gelatinous filling is actually more creamy custard-like, and it is soooo good. Like, mouthwateringly so.
Since this is a cake blog and all, and I don’t enjoy making pies, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take all that is delicious about pecan pie and transform it into a beautiful cake.
How to Make this Pecan Pie Cake
For the cake layers, I swapped out some granulated sugar and replaced it with (light) brown sugar to enhance the flavor and compliment the pecan pie filling.
The frosting is also made with (dark) brown sugar instead of the traditional granulated sugar you see in a Swiss meringue. This gives it a richer flavor, but I also love the color it gives the frosting! I used the same one for my Walnut Cake.
I chose to not put frosting between the layers of this Pecan Pie Cake, as I thought it would be a bit much in addition to the pecan pie filling.
The filling is quite sweet, and I thought it would be overkill with the frosting there too. I found the frosting on the sides and top to be enough, but you’re more than welcome to slather some on that first layer too!
The filling tastes JUST like a pecan pie. It’s pure heaven. The brown sugar cake and frosting are a perfect compliment to it.
This Pecan Pie Cake is the perfect cake for your holiday baking, whether it’s for Thanksgiving or Christmas, or anywhere in between!
Tips for this Pecan Pie Cake:
- The recipe as-is will also work in three 6″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The pecan pie filling can be made a couple days in advance, just keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. Bring to room temperature and give it a good whisk before using.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
- I didn’t bother, but you can toast the pecans for extra flavor, especially the decorative ones. 350F for 5 mins or so, until they are fragrant.
- I used a Wilton 6B piping tip to do the rope border at the top of the cake. I piped continuously in a corkscrew motion, holding my piping bag at almost 90 degrees, while turning the cake. It’s kinda hard to describe, so I hope that makes sense!
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my How to Bake Flat Cake Layers post!
Pecan Pie Cake
Ingredients
Pecan Pie Filling:
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Brown Sugar Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk room temperature
Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 2/3 cups dark brown sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Assembly:
- 2 cups pecan halves
Instructions
Pecan Pie Filling:
- In a medium pot, whisk together water, egg yolk, and cornstarch. Add in brown sugar and chopped pecans and whisk to combine.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil, whisking constantly for approx. 1 min.
- Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. Cool completely before using on cake.
Brown Sugar Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8″ cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Bake for 35-40mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.
Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins). Or registers 160F on a candy thermometer.
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.**
- Add vanilla and whip until smooth.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Pipe a damn of buttercream around the top and fill with approximately 2/3rds of the pecan pie filling.
- Place second cake layer on top and apply a thin coat of frosting all over to crumb coat. Chill for 20mins.
- Frost & smooth the top and sides of the cake. Do a rope border using a Wilton 6B piping tip. Chill for 20mins.
- Fill the middle between the rope border with the remainder of the pecan pie filling. Decorate top and bottom with pecan halves if desired.
Notes
** The buttercream may look like it’s curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
Originally published on Oct 1, 2017
Linda says
Best cake ever. Will definitely make this over and over again. Thank you for sharing.
Olivia says
Hi Linda! Thanks so much, I’m glad you liked it!
LaLa Scott says
This cake is stunning! I changed it up a bit by using some sugared pecans I made. It will be my Thanksgiving SHOWSTOPPER!
Olivia says
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that! Love the sugared pecans idea.
Inna says
So I’m making this cake right now! Everything is good and turned out excellent except the frosting is a bit runny. Is there a way to make the frosting thicker? Or would I have to start it again. Thank you 😉
Olivia says
Hi Inna! Was the meringue stiff when before you added the butter? If so, it sounds like maybe it was just a bit too warm. Stick the whole thing in the fridge for 20mins and try whipping again. And another 20mins after that if still too runny.
Laura says
I absolutely love Swiss Meringue Buttercream and this looks fantastic! I’m making this tonight for Thanksgiving and hope that it will become a new traditional dessert.
Olivia says
Hi Laura! Ohhh, I’m so excited that you’re making this. I hope you love it as much as I do. Let me know! 🙂
Monet says
Could you please do a quick tutorial of the frosting? Would love to make this for thanksgiving next week!
Chelsea says
I recently made this cake & the Almond Almaretto Cake for my daughter’s school dessert auction. They were beautiful! They sold for over $50 each! Thank you for creating such elegant cakes! I wish I had a way to share pictures of them!
Olivia says
Hi Chelsea! So glad to hear you liked them! I would love to see pics. You can email me at livforcakeblog (at) gmail (dot) com
Lisette says
The cake looks stunning. I’m wondering where you bought the beautiful cake plateau with marble and wood. Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Lisette! I actually got it at Homesense. I’m not sure where it’s from originally 🙁
Hailey says
I see the filling can be made ahead of time. Can the cake itself be made in advance? If so, can you provide instructions for prepping/baking?
Olivia says
Hi Hailey! You can make the entire cake a day or two in advance and store in the fridge. However, the fridge has a tendency to dry cakes out, so I would do it a max of two days. Alternatively, you can make the individual components in advance and assemble on a different day.
– The filling can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge (bring to room temp before using on the cake).
– The cake layers can be baked weeks in advance, wrapped twice in plastic wrap, and frozen (bring to room temp before assembling cake).
– The frosting can be made a few days in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using on the cake. Make sure the frosting is actually at room temp, if it’s too cold when you rewhip it, it could separate. If so, you’ll need to warm it up a bit and rewhip again.
I would recommend doing the filling and cake layers in advance and the frosting on the day you plan to assemble (just easier that way). I hope that helps!
Laura says
I am including a few of your desserts in my fall round-up (from MV group) and I Just have to say that I am total awe of your beautiful cakes and food photography. Your work is impeccable. I can’t wait to follow along to see what you’ll do next!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Laura! Your comment made my day 🙂 Please send me the link to the round-up so that I can share it!!
Crystal says
This may seem like a silly question, but for the double boiler part of buttercream, do set the mixing bowl in another bowl or do you place the bowl on the water?
Olivia says
Hi Crystal! Not silly at all. I place the mixer bowl over a pot that has a shallow bit of water. The bowl should not touch the water. Kinda like this: http://bakingbites.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/doubleboiler.JPG
Crystal says
Thanks so much for the reply!! Being a southern girl, I make pecan pies all the time. I cannot wait for Thanksgiving to make this delicious treat!!!
Olivia says
Hi Crystal! So excited that you’re going to try this. I hope you love it!! 🙂
Pam says
I made this last week. Pecan pie is probably my favorite. This cake was just as good, but with added fabulous icing makes it one step better!!! I’ll make it again!!!
Olivia says
Hi Pam! So happy to hear that you liked it! I love the frosting, it’s one of my faves 🙂
Heather says
I’m so excited to try this cake! What did you do to the decorative pecans to make them shiny, they look so beautiful?!
Olivia says
Hi Heather! I just brushed them with a thick sugar syrup for effect, but it would be best to candy them.
Neliza Alaba Gan says
Happy Thanksgiving!
I made this pecan pie cake yesterday for our thanksgiving dinner, and everybody said it’s their new favourite. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Olivia says
So happy to hear that Neliza! Glad everyone liked it 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Peggy Thomson says
Thanks for sharing this great receipt.
Olivia says
Thank you Peggy!
Peggy Thomson says
I sat and read through all of your page on this cake. Its simply
Beautiful to look at. I always loved to cook and bake but with
Fibromyalgia and other Health problems it seems to be harder
Now. I will have a good day and when I do I may try this as it
Would be Beautiful for Christmas. Thanks so much for being so
Kind to share such a beautiful Cake. I love pecans. God Bless.
Peggy Thomson.
Olivia says
Aww thanks so much Peggy, I really hope you get a chance to try this one. It’s delicious!
Beverley Press says
stunning cake and so full of the flavours of Fall, you cakes are always so perfect, I LOVE them All xoxo
Olivia says
Thank you Beverley! xoxo <3
Cindy Rodriguez says
What a gorgeous (and pricey!) cake. I love the combo of a pie-turned-cake situation and it looks sooooo delicious. I’d love to see a video of the rope icing technique.
Olivia says
Thanks so much Cindy! I gotta get on that video!
Monet says
Would love to see this tutorial! Hoping to make next week for thanksgiving!
haille says
Gente que maravilha, fico impressionada como pode algo tão lindo e gostoso, uma verdadeira obra de arte, que maravilha, excepcional.
Olivia says
Thank you so much Haille!!
olga says
I love pecan nuts so i will make this cake
Olivia says
Ohh I hope you do! It’s a good one 🙂 xoxo
Raschell | MissHomemade.com says
Stunning cake! I so enjoy your posts as I daydream about creating a cake half as gorgeous as yours. Keep ’em coming…
Olivia says
Thank you so much Raschell! 🙂